WEll, I'd say it definitely loks like a "Posh dublet for larp" as the title goes. I dont think so much of it for 15th century, although I could be wrong, not being totally up to speed on the complexities of posh kit.

but in terms of the fabric, decoration, and fastenings it bears incredibly little resemblence to any original garment I've ever seen of any period (and I've seen a fair few).

fine for larpers who aren't bothered about accuracy, but for re-enactors, it's rubbish (speaking as somebody who belongs to groups who'd probably burn me if I turned up with something ike that let alone the doublet )

"What a lovely hat! But may I make one teensy suggestion? If it blows off, don't chase it."
Miss Piggy
RIP Edward the avatar cat.

Dear god, but that's ghastly! And the seller is in the same town as me! unknown to me, I hasten to add. Ditto tuppences's comments.
They retail for well over £75.00? Really? Okay, well, a quick check reveals pattern was purchased by the seller via ebay on 20th October 06 for £3.50 & is McCall's 4695 Men's Renaissance Doublet - so, for LRP or Renfairs, maybe, but not the discerning re-enactor.

It's okay my interest in it has been dropped. It didn't look right to me either, but thinking I know something and actually being sure I know something are different, hence my desire to check with you all.

Based on what Sarah Thursfield told us the other weekend, if you want a posh 15th C doublet, you need it making for you to fit YOU exactly. If you're poor, you might get away with something that fits close-enough, but they are supposed to fit really well to work properly.

yeah, but largely any fifteenth century clothing has to fit right to work right - posh or otherwise.

and don't forget, this did say it was made to measure - (although actualy, given the person making it apparently needs patterns, rather than cutting their own, I'd take that to be a not good sign.

but it's just looking at it that makes it want to wash the inside of your eyes!

for fifteenth century posh you should have a very tightly fitted, though relatively plain of cut and fabric doublet, and a gown or short gown over the top, made in a costly fabric (whether a silk or a top level wool), and most likely trimmed with a fur of some sort.

from the pics I've looked at, fabrics for tight fitting doublets are normally plain, for the gowns they're plain or patterned - but the patterns are actually quite distinctive - you can't get away with just anything - and if patterned it really does need to be silk.

I'm working on one of those shortly - (shorter gown in proper silk) if I remember I'll post a pic when it's done.

"What a lovely hat! But may I make one teensy suggestion? If it blows off, don't chase it."
Miss Piggy
RIP Edward the avatar cat.

The MoL book on Textiles has lots of good pictures in it, but it really can't beat handeling some of the textiles or at least their modern equivalent. Our training course was a real eye-opener. Practically everything we wear is made of the wrong type of cloth!

If you mena historical sources, afaIk, nobody's ever put together anything on patterns of cloth all in one place from all sources (i.e. finds, plus extant garments, plus paintings, etc, etc).

So it's really just a case of looking at the paintings, and the very few existing garments in brocades, brocatelles, samites, damasks (there are a couple of bits out there - most notably the pourpoint of charles de blois), and in paintings and manuscript illustrations. recommend the british library, british museum, and bodleian for those.

or if in london, head off to the textiles room at the v&a and take some photos (I spent about 6 hours there doing that earlier in the year, and it was wonderful!)

"What a lovely hat! But may I make one teensy suggestion? If it blows off, don't chase it."
Miss Piggy
RIP Edward the avatar cat.

as long as it's for private study, you can take as many pictures as you like, and you are free to use flash.

I'm not sure that flash photography would work, as the frames all have glass holding the textile fragments in - probably you'd just get the reflection of the flash. but you can use it if you like.

flash is restricted in the costume gallery, (and any others with dim lighting), and if the label for an item says it's on loan from a private collection you can't take any pictures, but they are the only restrictions. I checked before taking hundreds

and I used my nice digital camera on increased exposure (no flash), and a combination of normal shots and really close up ones using the digital macro setting.

"What a lovely hat! But may I make one teensy suggestion? If it blows off, don't chase it."
Miss Piggy
RIP Edward the avatar cat.